LOWELL -- Now used for little more than overflow parking, a parcel between Chelmsford Street and the Lowell Connector with easy highway access and visibility could be the site of a 240-unit apartment building.

But some city councilors want to hit the pause button while the $40 million project goes through the permitting process. They say the site would be better as a high-rise commercial development because it is one of only a few such zoned sites still available for development.

"I'm being aggressive because the time is short," said Councilor Jim Leary, who recommended that the council vote to restrict the property from being open to a zoning change and keep it zoned for high-rise commercial use.

This largely unused property on Wellman Street has been proposed for a $40M housing development, but some city councilors want to see a commercial development there instead. In the background are twin office buildings owned by the project applicant. Sun/Grant Welker

The residential building proposal, in a mixed-use zone, would need a special permit to build a residential project.

Leary's motion failed, 5 to 4, but the city could still intervene in the permitting process. Instead, the council voted to have the City Manager's Office report on the economic viability of a commercial development there instead of residential.

Christine O'Connor, head of the city's law department, said zoning changes can take place at any point up until a project's approval.

An attorney for applicant Connector Park Equity Partners LLC, George Eliades, said following the debate that the site is not feasible for commercial use.

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A study done by the applicant found the project as proposed would bring the city nearly $600,000 in tax revenue each year, even after accounting for any additional costs incurred by schools or public safety departments.

"The project has been in the making since last fall," Eliades said, calling it a "total surprise" that the City Council would attempt to "block" the project. An expected report comparing commercial and residential potential of the site will delay the review process, he said.

The site is about 7 acres but because of wetlands, not all of it can be built on.

Councilor Jim Milinazzo was among those not wanting to interfere, saying doing so may be a knee-jerk reaction to the housing proposal. Besides, he said, the city will have lots of commercial space coming online in the Hamilton Canal District if plans materialize there, and along Tanner Street, where the city envisions blue-collar industrial sites becoming denser commercial spaces.

"This isn't the end of us building additional commercial and industrial space in the city," Milinazzo said. "I'd love to see a high-rise go there, but I don't own the land. The city doesn't own the land."

Councilor Dan Rourke also cautioned against pulling the rug out from under the company planning the project. Milinazzo, Rourke and three others -- Corey Belanger, Rodney Elliott and Rita Mercier -- voted against ensuring there was no zoning change.

"Yes, I would like much more," Belanger said, "but this is what's in front of us right now," referring to the housing proposal.

Mayor Ed Kennedy was also among those calling for a more detailed look at the best way the site can be developed. He dismissed concerns about how a zoning change could affect the Wellman Street project.

"They may have spent money on a report and feasibility study," he said of the applicants, "but at no time should they have ever been under the impression that they had the ability to build those apartments as-right."

Bill Samaras, who chairs the council's economic development subcommittee, said Lowell is a more attractive landing spot for development than it used to be, and no longer has to be satisfied with any proposal at all.

John Leahy predicted a large commercial tower, citing the city's development streak lately.

The high-rise commercial zone the property is located in allows building up to 200 feet high, or about the height of the Cross Point towers down Chelmsford Street. The zone runs roughly from Cross Point and Showcase Cinemas to the Target department store off Plain Street and includes several properties along Industrial Avenue East.

Unlike those other properties, the Wellman Street site is vacant, however.

"This is one of the last developable parcels in the district," said Eric Slagle, the city's director of development services.

Today, the site is little more than a vast, little-used parking lot. Parking spaces closest to Wellman Street are used for the two adjacent office buildings, which are owned by the same company that would build the apartment project.

In addition to high visibility off the Lowell Connector, it is also just over half a mile drive from the highway.

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